Summer Amaro

Posted on Tuesday, August 27th, 2013

Honest, I am still making cocktails around here. I’m also racing to keep up with our cocktail garden, and preserving our special summer harvest for future cocktails. I decided at the beginning of the year, to create my own Amaro for each of the seasons, using as many ingredients from our own garden as possible. My Winter Amaro ended up using a few ingredients from the spice drawer and some citrus from the store, to boost the limited choice of herbs surviving our icy winter. I was thrilled with the bounty of herbs and vegetables thriving in our garden for my Spring Amaro. For this Summer Amaro, I found 24 different herbs, flowers, and fruits to use from our garden of edibles. After nearly a week of infusing, the Summer Amaro is developing a gorgeous rosy hue. Here’s what I’ve done so far to create this bottle of bitter beauty.

Summer Amaro

5 cups good quality vodka

alpine strawberries

anise hyssop

aronia berries

bay leaf

basil

basil mint

calendula

coriander seeds

fennel seeds

hops

lemon balm

lemon grass

lemon verbena

lovage seeds

marjoram

nigella seeds

golden oregano

pineapple sage

plum

rosemary

rose petals

sage

tarragon

thyme

I’m tasting it daily the first week, and giving it a good shake, making sure all the ingredients stay submerged in the vodka. I’ve got some floaters in this bunch. After two weeks, I’ll decide if the Summer Amaro is robust enough, or if I’ll keep it infusing for another week or two. Four weeks is usually plenty of time for this infusion. When the Summer Amaro is declared ready, I’ll strain it and give it a taste. It might need a bit of simple syrup. So far the fruit and berries in this creation are imparting plenty of sweetness.